Sana's Turmeric-Sesame  Tea Cakes

Photo by:

photo by Eva Kolenko for Food & Wine Magazine

Inspired by Sfouf, a Lebanese dessert I baked during my first professional cooking stint at Ovenly in Brooklyn, these fragrant cakes have a beautiful color and nutty scent thanks to the combination of turmeric and tahini, which caramelizes at the edges. I like to garnish them with edible marigolds, which are grown in the turmeric fields and bloom when the turmeric is ready to be harvested :)

Ingredients

Active Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
1/4 cup tahini, divided
1 cup semolina flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill) (about 5 1/2 ounces)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup gluten-free flour with xanthan gum (such as King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour) (about 2 1/8 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground Pragati Turmeric
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoon ghee, melted
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Methods

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle of oven. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray. Brush muffin cups with 2 tablespoons tahini.
Whisk together semolina flour, sugar, gluten-free flour, turmeric, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl until combined.
Stir together ghee and remaining 2 tablespoons tahini in a small bowl until combined. Add tahini mixture to flour mixture, and stir just to incorporate. Slowly whisk in 3/4 cup water until a smooth batter forms. Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds.
Bake in preheated oven until set, about 25 minutes. Increase oven temperature to broil, and broil until muffins are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Let muffins cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and serve warm or at room temperature.